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Kel
The Kel are one of the six factions governing the hexarchate in the Machineries of Empire universe. Notable Kel include Hexarch Kel Tsoro, General Kel Khiruev, Commander Kel Nerevor, Commander Kel Talaw, Lieutenant Colonel Kel Brezan, Major Kel Dhanneth, and Brevet General Kel Cheris. Role The Kel are a low faction; their corresponding high faction is the Shuos.Ninefox Gambit, Chapter 2 They are the hexarchate's military, specializing in kinetic operations,The Factions: Low Faction Kel though they are unsuitable for the post-battle process of converting heretics to the high calendar, ceding these functions to the Andan and Vidona.Ninrfox Gambit, Chapter 20 They appreciate the conservative mindset of the Rahal; grudgingly acknowledge the essential function of the Vidona; have strong ties to the Nirai, who provide them with technology; and work closely with the Shuos, who provide them with intelligence and strategic guidance, despite distrust of the faction's inherent foxiness. They despise the Andan for the faction's suspiciously close contacts with foreigners and flexible social mores.The Factions: Low Faction Kel Meanwhile, the Rahal regard them as instruments to spend freely to put down heresies, the Nirai disparage their intelligence but readily do business with them; the Andan consider them "a hammer in search of a nail"; the Vidona admire their loyalty and are sympathetic to their culture; and the Shuos consider them a handy distraction to throw at enemies while the real work is done elsewhere.Author's website Government The Kel seat of government is the Aerie.Raven Stratagem, Chapter 26 The faction emblem is a black ashhawk surrounded by flames, which, like any individual Kel, may also be called a suicide hawk. Their colors are black and gold.Ninefox Gambit, Chapter 2 The most recent Kel hexarch is Kel Tsoro. However, the Kel are usually administrated by Kel Command, a hivemind using composite technology and composed of Kel high officers who have been assimilated into the collective consciousness.Raven Stratagem, Chapter 1 The Kel hexarch's seat stands on rank and seniority, usually falling to the highest officer in Kel Command.Hexarchate Stories: The Battle of Candle Arc Technology The Kel specialties are formation instinct, a form of medically-injected brainwashing that compels Kel to find emotional solace in taking orders from superiors, and the ability of Kel soldiers or warmoths to channel formations, producing exotic defenses and attacks by grouping into specific geometric configurations. The development of suicide formationsThe Factions: Low Faction Kel prompted the Kel to be nicknamed "suicide hawks." Non-Kel cannot use formations to channel exotic effects.The Battle of Candle Arc Kel unable to maintain formation instinct are known as crashhawks. While there is some precedent for individual crashhawks continuing to serve, the Kel regard them with horror and suspicion, and more often they are discharged or executed. Notable crashhawks include Cheris, Kel Iasure, and Kel Brezan. In dire emergency, Kel generals can set aside formation instinct by resorting to the Vrae Tala clause, which allows them to disobey orders at the cost of dying within a hundred days of the clause's invocation. A Kel saying describes the resulting countdown: "Every general is a clock."Raven Stratagem, Chapter Kel Arsenal Main article: Kel Arsenal Culture Main article: Kel culture The Kel tend to be conservative, xenophobic, conformist, and rigidly hierarchical,The Factions: Low Faction Kel and acknowledge little difference between foreigners and heretics.Author's website The faction's prejudice against body modification, though not an outright taboo, sometimes extends to discomfort with people whose physical form does not match their gender identity,Raven Stratagem, Chapter 2 and sex changes are considered distasteful by most Kel, though they are common in the Andan and Shuos.Ninefox Gambit, Chapter 3 They are stereotyped as blunt, unimaginative, flamboyantly militaristic, fanatical, and prone to sacrificing themselves in impetuous fits of suicidal bravery. The military keeps a ten-day week.Ninefox Gambit, Chapter 1 Kel planetary navies are considered the least prestigious postings, dumping grounds for unwanted soldiers.Cheris and the Sea Kel posted to warmoths have a similar prejudice against infantry, who are sometimes disdainfully referred to as "garden Kel" for their ground-based operations.Revenant Gun, Chapter 14 The number four is associated with death in the hexarchate, and the Kel, whose "luck is always bad," consider "lucky unlucky four" a particular number of theirs.Ninefox Gambit, Chapter 8 One Kel superstition involves knocking in a one-two-three-four pattern.Ninefox Gambit, Chapter 13 Another numerical superstition involves the numbers on the blades of calendrical swords, which most Kel carry, being in general extremely fond of dueling. While a strong taboo against in-faction relationships existed before the development of formation instinct,Extracurricular Activities modern Kel are strictly forbidden to form intimate relationships with one another.The Factions: Low Faction Kel Kel caught violating the taboo are executed. Therefore, Kel only marry outside their faction. Group marriages are the norm, especially when children are desired.The Factions: Low Faction Kel High table High table is a formal meal eaten daily with the rest of one's company. Each company eats in a different high hall. A communal cup is passed around after the ranking officer present takes two sips. If a high officer who has invoked the Vrae Tala clause is in the room, a candle is present at their place on specific days between the clause and the officer's death. Symbolism The ashhawk, especially Brightly Burning, figures prominently in Kel symbolism, as do flames and the faction colors, black and gold. Ashhawk symbolism appears in rank badges too: captains wear a gold talon with a drop of ruby blood; generals wear wings; high generals wear wings and a flame. The Kel wear black gloves at all times, only ungloving, it is said, for suicide or lovers.Raven Stratagem, Chapter Other faction members seconded to the Kel used to wear black fingerless gloves. After the massacre at Hellspin Fortress, fingerless gloves went out of fashion and seconded personnel wore gray gloves instead.Ninefox Gambit, Chapter 3 The Kel have an identifiable body of music.Ninefox Gambit, Chapter 3 A formal roll call includes fire, a drum, and a flute.Ninefox Gambit, Chapter 2 Food The Kel flavor plain food with an emphasis on vegetables,Ninefox Gambit, Chapter 23 and are adamant about spiced cabbage pickles. Other typical Kel fare includes sesame-salted quail eggs, pickled plums, fish fried battered with egg, rice flour, and sage leaves,Ninefox Gambit, Chapter 2 rice, sesame leaves, and finely chopped marinated roast meat.Raven Stratagem, Chapter 20 Indulgences, including fresh fruit such as tangerinesNinefox Gambit, Chapter 2 and persimmonsPersimmon Quest or cinnamon-ginger punch with floating pine nuts, round out a Kel meal.Ninefox Gambit, Chapter 8 Mikodez eats half a Kel infantry ration bar every day for breakfast to atone for all the candy he puts in his system. Kel lore is that that consuming ration bars voluntarily suggests mental health problems.Raven Stratagem, Chapter 11 Available flavors include honey-sesameRevenant Gun, Chapter 13, roasted dried squidRevenant Gun, Chapter 24 (often unpopular but one of Cheris's favorites), taro, anchovies, and curried goat. The various flavors have strong, distinct smells,Hexarchate Stories: Glass Cannon and some varieties are rated to last over two centuries.Revenant Gun, Chapter 10 Kel jokes Main article: Kel joke Hexarch Kel Tsoro keeps a file of Kel jokes, as does Lieutenant Colonel Kel Meraun. As a cadet disturbed by Shuos Zehun's remarks, Rhezny Brezan swore to be a "boring average Kel like the ones in all the Kel jokes."Raven Stratagem, Chapter 3 * "How many Kel does it take to clean a latrine?" -- Kel Gized to Jedao (punchline unknown)Ninefox Gambit, Chapter 21 * “For all [[Hafn]] know, we haven’t met our daily suicide quota.” –- KhiruevRaven Stratagem, Chapter 6 * “How do you tell the difference between a violin and a Kel?” “The Kel burns longer.” -- Jedao to KhiruevRaven Stratagem, Chapter 2 Recruitment Main article: Kel Academy Service in the military is voluntary, and Kel applicants are told clearly what their obligations and odds of survival are likely to be. The Kel recruit from anyone who can pass their entrance exams,Author's website focusing on bravery, loyalty, strength, and a modicum of mathematical ability to handle formation geometry and calendrical warfare.The Factions: Low Faction Kel Kel Academy has a Primary campus for officer candidates, with a five-year program. Troops attend a four-year program at Secondary, Tertiary, and other branches. History The Kel were originally an independent starfaring people before the heptarchate was formed. Though their origins are little remembered, some of their culture still exists,Author's website including Kel Command, xenophobia for outside cultures, reflexive deference to hierarchy, Kel heraldry, the significance of Kel gloves, and the creation of dramatic tapestries and other memorial art from Kel uniforms and technology used in past battles.The Chameleon's Gloves However, modern Kel are a volunteer force rather than a closed culture.Author's website The first Kel formation discovered and used was a suicide formation. This fact colored Kel formation use from the start and lent to the perception of the Kel as suicide hawks. Two of the only three attempts to secede from the hexarchate were instigated by Kel generals before the institution of formation instinct. All of the attempts failed.Raven Stratagem, Chapter 18 Kel Command had always been composed of high generals, but the establishment of the hivemind led to a change in practice wherein every high general was routinely assimilated into Kel Command, an integration procedure requiring new members to be on site with the rest of the hivemind. Nonetheless, the original precedent allowed exceptions for tactical purposes.Raven Stratagem, Chapter 12 While non-Kel rarely rose to positions of prominence, other faction members seconded to the military occasionally had successful collaborations with the faction. One such soldier was General Andan Zhe Navo, who was later remembered as one of the hexarchate's greatest historical generals. Zhe Navo died of old age during the childhood of General Shuos Jedao, who would later be promoted quickly and win every battle he was assigned to until his notorious massacre at Hellspin Fortress. Afterwards, Jedao was placed in the black cradle and signed over to the Kel Arsenal. The Kel subsequently fielded him a number of times as a revenant attached to a living person, usually a Kel "volunteer"; as in life, Jedao won every battle in which he was fielded. Though the Kel originally existed as an elite by choice, the horror of the Hellspin massacre and the destruction of the ethically-minded Liozh twenty years later dramatically increased Kel Command's paranoiaRaven Stratagem, Chapter 13 and paved the way for the introduction of formation instinct. This made the taboo against in-faction fraternization became even stronger and reduced the likelihood of non-Kel ascending to positions of prominence due to their inability to be controlled with formation instinct. Over a century later the death of General Kel Vrae Tala led to the development of the Vrae Tala clause, but otherwise little recourse remained for Kel soldiers to directly question bad orders. Kel Command's ever-growing composite psychosis tended to make its bad decisions, such as hiding vital tactical information from its own troops and alienate charismatic or independent officers, much worse. Kel historians tended to skirt issues related to Kel Command's paranoia and questionable choicesRaven Stratagem, Chapter 13 rather than risk their careers. During the next few centuries, the development of true machine sentience resulted in the transfer of scutwork such as cooking, cleaning, and repairs to servitors rather than soldiers. Unbeknownst to humans, servitors developed their own culture and those serving with Kel absorbed some Kel prejudices and values. The Kel also continued to obtain better weapons, defenses, and mothdrive vessels from the Nirai. Ultimately, Kel Command's mishandling of Jedao and Brevet General Kel Cheris, first during the Siege of the Fortress of Scattered Needles and then during the Hafn invasion, cleared the way for the Shuos to enable a calendrical spike in which Kel Command and four of the six hexarchs were destroyed, destabilizing the hexarchate. After the spike, neither the only remaining high general, Kel Brezan, nor the senior swarm general, Kel Inesser, claimed the Kel hexarch's seat. Instead, the Kel divided themselves between Brezan's Compact, where Cheris's revised calendar removed mandatory torture and made exotic effects voluntary, and the Protectorate, led by self-styled Protector-General Inesser and abiding by the old high calendar. Nine years later, the two polities united under Inesser's banner, the Three Kestrels Three Suns, wholly adopting the new calendar in exchange for unified support in opposing Hexarch Nirai Kujen. Trivia * After graduating Kel Academy, Kel Nerevor's first assignment as a junior lieutenant was to a planetary navy.The Lieutenant and the Sergeant Despite the general Kel preference for moth duty, Cheris, who liked the sea, regretted not being assigned to navy duty.Cheris and the Sea Links * The Factions: Low Faction Kel References Category:Stubs Category:Kel Category:Hexarchate Category:Heptarchate Category:Factions